Game of Thrones Season 7 may have just wrapped up, but that doesn't mean we still can't have fun in the world of Westeros. In a new JG Review series I will be exploring the most popular fan theories and predictions for the upcoming Season 8! While no one actually knows what will happen in the next season, there is a chance these theories could be accurate, so read at your own risk...
Perhaps the biggest question on everyone's lips as the credits began to roll on this week's finale revolved around Lena Heady's Queen Cersei. The devilish monarch was abandoned by Jaime, her twin brother-slash-lover, leaving her completely isolated in Westeros' capital, King's Landing (well, disregarding her un-dead bodyguard and creepy Hand, Qyburn, that is).
We learnt through her conversation with Jaime just before he left that she planned to go back on her agreement to help Danaerys Targaryen and Jon Snow defeat the Army of the Dead and instead use the infamous Golden Company (essentially an army-for-hire from across the sea) to attempt to defeat whomever is left standing once the Great War has finished. In her own words, she aims to "let the monsters destroy eachother" and then deal with the fallout herself. You can understand the logic. Cersei is pregnant with her fourth child and not only wants to secure the Iron Throne for herself but for her family after her, and this disloyal plan is certainly her best bet at securing the Lannister hold on the Red Keep for years to come.
This is Game of Thrones though, and the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. You may remember in Season 5 we saw a flashback in which a young Cersei recieved a prophecy from Maggy the Frog, a witch. Here's what she was told in the show:
I have been promised to the Prince. When will we Marry?
-No. You will not wed the Prince. You will marry the King.
But I will be Queen?
- Oh yes. You will be Queen. For a time. Then comes another...younger, more beautiful. To cast you own and take all you hold dear.
Will I have children?
- Oh. The King will have 20 children. You will have 3. Gold will be their crowns. Gold their shrouds. [laughs]
In the books, however, there is another section of the prophecy the show decided to leave out. This may be classed as spoilers, but as Melissandre explained in Season 7, prophecys can be complicated, so what this predicts may not be as explicitly obvious as we think. The rest of the prophecy goes as follows:
Will I have children?
- Oh. The King will have 20 children. You will have 3. Gold will be their crowns. Gold their shrouds. [laughs] And when your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands around your pale white throat and choke the life from you.
Now okay, okay. I here you. What does valonqar mean? Let me try and break it down.
First of all, this confirms that Cersei will inevitably die, after all, every other prediction in that prophecy came to fruition. All three of Cersei's children did in fact die, King Robert did have tens of bastards and Margaery Tyrell was indeed a younger, more beautiful Queen whose reign saw the High Septon strip Cersei of everything she'd ever held dear.
So...'valonqar'?
Valonqar is High Valyrian for 'little brother'.
Now, I know what you're all thinking, this definitely means either Tyrion or Jaime will kill Cersei! And yes, they are technically the two biggest candidates for the job, but Game of Thrones never runs that smoothly and we know the role of metaphor in these prophecies is rather large. So who else could fulfill the role of the valonqar?
Some have argued it will be Euron Greyjoy. He could easily fit the category too - we have already seen him throw his older brother off of a bridge in his lust for power. He's currently off fetching the Golden Company for his Queen and aims to marry her in an attempt to attain a seat at the Iron Throne. This, however, is unlikely to happen if we know Cersei at all. In fact, she has probably already planned to kill him when he returns with the army. Euron though, despite being a bit of a joke on the show, is renowned for his madness and desire for the throne. Is it too much of an assumption that he will strangle his Queen to death in order to get it?
The other potential candidate though, and I have to say this is my favourite version of thee theory, is Arya Stark. We know Arya has had Cersei in her sights for quite some time now - she was even one of the first names on her murder list. After such a long time training to be an assassin, it seems almost fitting that Arya will see her list completed by the end of the final season. Of course, I haven't forgotten about the valonqar term used in the prophecy, but even this can be explained. We know Jaime is heading up North to Winterfell to fight alongside Brienne against the Night King's army, and, let's face it, it's quite probable he will die there too. And what does Arya have a tendency to do with dead bodies? Yep, this little girl collects peoples faces like I used to collect Pokemon cards. What if Arya dons the disguise of Jaime, heads straight into King's Landing, walks right into Cersei's throne room and bang. Job done.
I'm not sure how likely any of this will be, but I can't imagine Tyrion strangling Cersei to death and it doesn't seem likely Jaime will be alive to return back south. The final option could be the most convincing, though. What if Cersei's unborn baby is a boy. He would be classed as the little brother to Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella, after all. What if Cersei is genuinely pregnant, and we see her die in childbirth? Granted, a baby can't really wrap its hands around it's mother's throat and choke her, but it could all just be an elaborate metaphor for a delivery room death.
What do you think though? How do you think Cersei will end up biting the dust? And how much time do you think we have left with her? Could she die in the first episode? Or much later into Season 8? Let me know in the comments below with your ideas and speculation! We have a while to wait to find out who this valonqar actually is, so while we wait why not keep to JG Review for more Game of Thrones speculation, and for awesome film content too!
Written by James Green
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